The 17 most expensive universities in the UK

Going to university is an expensive business. Three years of paying for tuition, food, and accommodation without an income can be tricky for some students, even with the help of a student loan.

Market Inspector, a B2B digital marketplace has compiled a ranking of the UK’s most expensive universities by combining the cost of everything from insurance to rent to books, to give a good idea of the overall cost of a year at university for the average British undergrad.

Most universities on the list are in London and the south east of England, where the cost of rent is a bigger expense than anywhere else in the country. However, some are outside the capital in other major cities around the country.

One private university — where tuition fees are almost double the £9,250 paid by undergraduates at public universities — features highly on the list.

Check it out below:

17. The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Specialising in the teaching of acting, the RCSSD has educated the likes of Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave, and Judi Dench.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £21,982

16. Kingston University

Based, as its name suggests, in Kingston upon Thames, the university is cheaper than some of its central London counterparts. However, students can still expect to spend almost £13,000 on top of their fees every year.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £22,058

15. Leeds Beckett University

One of just a handful of universities outside the capital on the list. Formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University, Beckett is one of the UK’s largest higher education centres.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £22,330

14. University of Westminster

A university since 1992, the central London school is world renowned for its Communication and Media Research Institute, one of the top 40 communications schools in the world.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £22,810

13. London Metropolitan University

Despite being frequently ranked as one of the UK’s worst universities, London Metropolitan is one of its most expensive, thanks in part to its location close to the centre of the capital.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £23,000

12. Middlesex University

Situated in north London, Middlesex University’s cost is pushed up by being within the capital. It counts comedian Johnny Vegas as perhaps its best known alumnus.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £23,040

11. School of African and Oriental Studies

Specialising in languages like Arabic and Mandarin, as well as its eponymous African Studies and Oriental Studies courses, SOAS is in the heart of London’s Bloomsbury, near fellow universities Kings College and University College London.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £23,996

10. Imperial College

Imperial frequently ranks as one of the UK’s best universities, with science subjects coming in for particular praise. It has produced 15 Nobel Prize-winners.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £24,186

9. Royal Academy of Music

Teaching, as you might expect, music, the Royal Academy of Music is world renowned, and has educated students including Elton John, opera singer Katherine Jenkins, and Annie Lennox.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £24,312

8. Oxford Brookes University

The less glamorous and famous cousin of Oxford University, Brookes is one of the country’s most costly universities thanks to the expense of living in Oxford, which consistently ranks among the UK’s most expensive cities.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £24,450

7. City University London

City specialises in its vocational degrees, like optometry and nursing, as well as being known worldwide for its journalism school. It is situated in the borough of Islington, close to the City of London.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £24,468

6. University of Oxford

(Getty) (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Perpetually one of the top five universities in the world, Oxford is fiendishly difficult to get into, and incredibly expensive for students when they do.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £24,760

5. London School of Economics and Political Science

Another university in the heart of central London, the LSE is famous for the quality of its teaching and research, and 17% of all Nobel economics laureates have attended or taught at the university.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £25,546

4. University College London

In the Bloomsbury cluster of universities, UCL claims to have educated the “fathers” of each of India, Kenya and Mauritius, the founders of Ghana, modern Japan and Nigeria.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £25,664

3. University of the Arts London

With campuses and colleges across London, UAL is one of the top 5 universities in the world for art and design, it claims. It includes Central Saint Martins art school, Camberwell College of Arts, and Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £25,776

2. Royal College of Music

Different to the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College is located in South Kensington, and counts Phantom of the Opera writer Andrew Lloyd Webber and composer Gustav Holst among its alumni.

Tuition fees: £9,250

Total cost: £26,518

1. Regent’s University London

Regent’s University London

Far and away the most expensive higher education experience in the UK comes from Regent’s University London. That’s largely because as a private school, it can charge tuition fees that are almost double those of public universities.